


Once upon a December

by softjohndae



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Demigod!AU, Greek Mythology - Freeform, M/M, as in can be read in the middle of summer, despite the name, kinda christmassy but not really, sort of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-22
Updated: 2018-12-22
Packaged: 2019-09-24 22:05:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17108969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softjohndae/pseuds/softjohndae
Summary: Dancing bears,Painted wings,Things I almost remember,And a song someone sings,Once upon a December.Someone holds me safe and warm,Horses prance through a silver storm,Figures dancing gracefully across my memoryFar away,Long ago,Glowing dim as an ember,Things my heart used to know,Things it yearns to rememberAnd a song someone singsOnce upon a December





	Once upon a December

**Author's Note:**

> This little fic is a Christmas gift for my dear friend Rimin. I love you and I hope next year brings you lots of good things! MWAH 
> 
> To my other dear readers, Merry Christmas and Happy New Years, if it's not Christmas then have a good day! This fic can be read without really noticing the theme of Christmas so if you are from the future wondering whether you'll have the sudden urge to sing carols after reading this, you probably won't so go ahead and read this little piece of mind. I've been longing to write Stray Kids as demigods, so here you have it, enjoy! 
> 
> This little piece is also inspired by the song Once upon a December from the movie Anastasia, my fav movie of all time!

Gold. Dripping gold. Everywhere Felix looks at he sees gold, sometimes with a dash of mighty red, white, sparkly champagne and deep, deep brown. He himself doesn’t differ much, for he has gold clasped around his neck, dripping down his back, dangling from his ears. His suit looks like it’s made from the farthest stars of the universe, he’s glimmering, gold, silver, purest white. A sliver of red crosses his chest. He looks like he belongs to the great hall he’s currently strolling in as an ornament. The crystal glass of finest champagne sparkles between his fingers whenever the light from the chandeliers reflect against it. 

Felix lifts the glass to his lips, tastes the sweet drink in it, feels it drip down his throat. It feels warm yet refreshing at the same time, nectar of Gods, that is. For Felix it’s kind of tasteless. It’s not that special anymore, it used to be so much more but now it just a dull. He knows the reason for that (“It tastes like the things you love the most” his father had once said to him “but if those things are away from you for too long, it starts to taste like ash, so keep your loved ones close to you”). 

And now his drink is nearly tasteless. But then again, does it really matter? Does anything really matter, for Felix is immortal, and the drink will always taste the same. Doesn’t one get too used to the taste, too used to the things one loves? Felix doesn’t know, but he yearns for an answer. He always yearns for answers, he loves questioning everything. It’s part of him, sometimes annoying, but he can’t really help it.  
“Felix, have you seen your father?” A lady asks, eyes glittering in different shades of light blue.  
“In the throne room.” He doesn’t really hear himself answer, he’s too deep in his thoughts but Athena nods and leaves him alone, the white dress swaying in the movement. The dress looks like it’s made of pure light, and it probably is. 

Gold is the main color, it’s always the main color in the house of Zeus. Felix can’t see the ceiling, that’s how high the palace is. The floor underneath his feet is marble, so clean Felix can nearly see his own reflection against the surface. The large, royal red curtains cover the windows, Felix wants to know what’s behind them, but he doesn’t dare to move the fabric and look. Curiosity killed the cat, you know. 

Felix dashes around the hall, dodges other people he knows, doesn’t want to talk to anyone. Demigods, just like him, some gods among them. He recognizes Hermes and Hestia near the fountain in the middle of the hall, talking. The water in the fountain differs in color depending on where the admirer is standing and how they are feeling. Felix sees it just light blue, like actual water. Some Koi fish are swimming in the fountain. It’s high and mighty, picturing the God of Thunder and King of the Gods himself. One would probably say it’s beautiful, but to Felix it’s just boring. 

Felix turns on his heels when he sees a figure approaching, he doesn’t want to talk to his aunt right now, even though Selene is one of the more understanding gods. Understanding as in she’s familiar with the nature of humans and sees them as her equals. In the far corner of the hall stands a large pine tree, covered with artificial snow and golden ornaments, reminding Felix of the reason why he’s where he is right now. It’s Christmas, or “the day gods and demigods get together to hang out and play like a real family because apparently it’s trendy among the mighty gods”-day. On Earth it’s Christmas, and Felix would have rather been on Earth right now, celebrating with his mother but no, his father had dragged him along to Olympus. 

It’s absurd to Felix, since Christmas is not in the tradition of Greek gods, to celebrate it but here he is, a glass of nectar in his hand, roaming around the great hall and trying to avoid familiar faces. Everywhere he averts his eyes he sees ornaments glittering. Zeus has really taken this Christmas thing quite seriously, and Felix had a hunch Hera and Hestia had helped him.  
“Felix!” He mentally curses at the sound of the familiar voice but turns on his heels. It’s not that he doesn’t like Hyunjin, but the other one makes him feel uneasy, and he doesn’t feel like talking to people. Not when it’s been a year since the little… incident had happened. 

“Hey! I didn’t expect to see you here!” He chimes, sounding like crystals and jingle bells somehow at the same time.  
“Oh, hey, yeah I wasn’t planning on coming but my father insisted.” Hyunjin laughs and a flower blooms somewhere, Felix just knows it. A son of Aphrodite, they have that effect. He’s wearing a baby pink suit and a white dress shirt along with a cute, red bowtie. He turns heads.  
“I thought you missed me and came here just for me.” Felix cracks a smile at the boy, same age as him;  
“Well, of course I did. I would never not miss Hwang Hyunjin.” Hyunjin’s hair, deep brown has some flowers tangled in it. His cheeks are kissed by roses. 

“Hello!” Another voice Felix recognizes, Woojin, son of Kybele along with Seungmin, son of Athena. And a slightly smaller boy Felix doesn’t recognize. Hyunjin’s cheek turn even rosier at the sight of Seungmin.  
“Hey! How’s your Christmas going?” The nectar in Woojin’s glass is deep red and he is quite certain Dionysus has something to do with it.  
“Good.” Felix simply answers before Hyunjin steals the show, tells everything about his day so far. It’s quite endearing, and Felix notices how the new boy’s eyes sparkle when he looks at Hyunjin. 

Something shifts in the air; a stronger aura enters the room and Felix’s gaze flies right at the doorstep. He knows who it is without looking, but he can’t help it, the boy is a scene stealer. It’s Minho with his dark suit, shifting from deep blue tones to red ones like scales. Son of Hecate and if the rumors were true, quite a magician himself. Minho nods at Felix as he passes him and Felix nods back, a motion of mutual respect. They don’t play in the same league, they’re not close to each other, yet they are more alike than one would assume, one being the day and one being the night. Yin and yang, one would say. 

As the presence of Minho passes, a shadow follows him, dimming the lights and taking the sounds of the music along with it. But in a second, the mystique of the boy is over, and the harps are playing again in the background, the lights bright as ever. Felix turns to the new boy who has paled from his face a little.  
“There’s nothing to fear in him.” Felix says, takes a sip of his drink. It still tastes dull. Woojin nods in agreement, before he pushes the boy slightly from the back to step forward.  
“This is Jeongin. He’s the son of Selene.” Felix cocks his eyebrow, slightly surprised. Jeongin is wearing a white suit with silvery seams.  
“Nice to meet you, cousin.” Felix takes his hand out of his trousers’ pocket to shake hands with the boy. Jeongin’s irises are gray, just as his mother’s.  
“You must be Felix! Son of Helios, my mother told me about you!” Jeongin beams with the power of a thousand suns and for a second Felix wonders whether they were swapped at birth.  
“I am, and I truly hope Selene spoke nothing but good.” Felix smiles, but the smile doesn’t reach his eyes. It truly never does anymore. 

“There you are!” And yet another familiar voice, one of Felix’s closer friends this time. Chan dashes in, suit sparkling in white, gold and yellow. His hair is slightly pink, glimmering in the chandelier light, exactly the kind of style Felix would expect from the son of Apollon. Chan’s drink is also deep red and he waltzes next to Felix, everlasting smile on his lips.  
“Felix! You look like one of the ornaments, dripping in gold!” Chan laughs, all hearty. Felix grins at the older boy, it’s a joke, and Felix would probably laugh if the circumstances were different. Chan notices, of course he notices, he knows Felix better than anyone. He places his free hand on Felix’s shoulder and squeezes a little, reassuring and caring. Before anyone has time to ask any questions Chan turns his head to Jeongin and begins asking about him, he loves new people, loves people in general. Felix does, too, just not today. He excuses himself and wanders off, feels Hyunjin’s slightly concerned stare in the back of his neck. 

His glass doesn’t get any emptier even though he takes sips of it. The huge tables filled with food in the sides of the hall don’t call for his name, he doesn’t feel like eating. He doesn’t feel like anything. He sees Minho talking to Jisung in one corner of the hall and suddenly he feels like suffocating. He didn’t know Jisung was going to be here. Jisung, son of Zeus himself, all beautiful and mighty in his electric blue suit. Felix turns again, a slight pang of fear stinging his heart. It’s been a year, he knows it. 

A little over year ago, once upon a December, Felix had got to know a boy, a boy whom he was so intrigued of. It was stupid, now that he came to really think of it, his father had warned him about the boy, but Felix wouldn’t listen, no, he was stubborn and wanted to rebel. So he had, well, fallen in love. Or not fallen in love, maybe that was a little too strong of an expression for such a short amount of time, more of really liked this boy. And as all sad love stories go, the boy had broken his heart. Exactly a year ago. In the very same party as the one Felix was currently walking through the halls in. 

He had been a friend of Jisung’s. And Minho’s and Felix was quite sure Chan had known him as well. The worst part was that Felix had actually gotten an explanation as to why their little thing would never work out and why they would never be together, but it was a shitty reason and Felix didn’t agree on it. They were too different, too far from each other and each other’s lives. On different levels. The memories made Felix’s heart sob. 

And now, a year after, Felix hopes his nectar wouldn’t be just nectar but wine like Chan’s and Woojin’s. He roams the halls, smiles at people who smile at him. He doesn’t dare to enter the throne room, he knows the gods are feasting there and his father wouldn’t like him just dashing in. The nectar tastes even more like ash than before and it saddens Felix a little more. The notes of the harps change a little, and Felix realizes it’s time for a proper celebration with the form of dancing and singing. A little too late Felix tries to step out of the great hall as he is pulled back from his suit jacket, a smile on his aunt’s face. Selene doesn’t really like to party among the gods, Felix knows this as he smiles back and bows a little, placing his glass to the nearest table.  
“I assume you met my dear Jeongin.” Selene’s voice is serene, his dress is made of same fabric as Jeongin’s suit and he just knows it’s pure moonlight.  
“I did, a charming young lad.” Felix takes the hand of the goddess, he doesn’t dare to refuse.  
“He’s a little younger than you. Bright and beaming, just as his mother.” Selene laughs, and now Felix realizes where Jeongin had actually got his one-thousand-sun smile. 

Felix knows the dance by heart, sweeps through the crowd, his other hand on the waist of the lady and other one supporting her arm. With the corner of his eye he spots Hyunjin and Seungmin dancing, Seungmin blushing shyly, face nearly as red as his suit. Jeongin is dancing with Hestia, blushing madly as well and Felix guesses it’s because it’s Jeongin’s first time meeting other gods than his mother. Selene is talking about the celebrations and what’s to come, along with Helios’ and Apollon’s little “light show” and the performance by the Muses. Felix just keeps nodding, barely listening to her, even though he knows it’s rude and his father would scold him for it (but then again, Selene knows how Felix his). 

And then Felix spots a figure, up, up above his head, standing on top of the stairs leading to the great hall. All the air is punched from his lungs, he feels like suffocating, his world feels like collapsing, he recognizes the figure, he would recognize the figure even if it was miles away from him in the middle of a crowd and he feels like panicking, like screaming his lungs out, like dropping down to the ground to sob, but on top of it all, he feels like bursting. From what? Felix doesn’t know, he really doesn’t know.  
“I- I- I’m sorry, miss, I- I- I real-ly need to go.” Felix stammers, not looking Selene in the eyes, but he knows Selene has spotted the same person he has. What he doesn’t hear is Selene whispering “Good luck” to him as he stumbles away, trying to dodge the people dancing around him, bumping to some. 

Felix scrambles up the stairs, almost knocking down a satyr carrying a huge tray of nectar glasses (“Sorry!” Felix yells behind him as he continues running). When he reaches the top of the stairs he doesn’t see the figure anymore and panic surges through him with the power of a thousand needles. He spins around, the golden earrings chinking. He can’t get any air in his lungs, not until he sees a lapel of a black suit, turning just around from the farthest corner of a hallway behind Felix. 

Felix surges forward, running after the figure, he wants to yell it to stop but he can’t. The marble floor under his feet echo as he runs down the hallway, multiple paintings and heavy, red curtains along with doors and more doors to places Felix doesn’t even know exist flashing by him. He turns from the corner, just as the lapel disappears around another corner. Felix runs faster, he feels his lungs burning. The paintings and doors have disappeared by now, it’s just marble walls and marble halls after one another. Felix runs, he runs as fast as his feet carry him, turns around another corner and another then again until he halts to a stop. In front of him is the end of the long hallway, opening to a balcony. 

And on the balcony, sitting on the edge of a large rail made of marble, he sees the figure. Felix’s heart is pounding, and he knows it’s not just the running. The air still refuses to get back to his lungs properly, his palms are slick of cold sweat and inside, he is a mess. It only took one little hem of a suit and he was already a mess, full of questions, full of mixed feelings. Felix takes a step forward. Another. Then another. 

Slowly, unsurely he approaches the balcony, but stops just before the entrance. The figure isn’t looking at him, oh no, it’s gazing at the scene in front of them. For a second Felix wonders whether he should just turn back and go to the great hall, drink a little too much wine and cry to Chan about the things he has kept to himself for a little too long, but then the figure turns his head. 

Changbin looks just as beautiful as Felix has remembered him. His hair is dark, slightly curled from the tips, ruffled to look a little messy. He’s wearing a black suit with a white shirt and a red bow, and the black glimmers with reds and purples as light reflects from it. Silvery rings circle around his fingers, a silver serpent gliding around his wrist (it’s called an ouroboros, Felix remembers vividly, Changbin had told him that once). 

But it’s not the suit or the riches Felix’s is looking at, no, it’s the eyes, dim as embers, glowing. Burning. Felix’s heart twists and turns at those eyes, so deep, and full of emotions Felix can’t decipher. Changbin has always been an enigma, something Felix’s hasn’t completely figured out, something that has kept his interest and hasn’t answered his questions all at once. A sudden pang of longing tugs Felix’s insides. He hates this. He hates Changbin. He hates him, he hates the fact he’s just sitting there, looking like a million dollars, calm and quiet, collected like he wasn’t pouring his heart to Felix just a year ago. 

“Felix.” It’s a nothing but a mere whisper, but it’s as loud as someone had yelled it next to Felix’s ear. The marble floor drips gold, the railing drips gold. Changbin’s eyes drip gold.  
“Changbin.” Felix spits out. The word is full of venom, full of yearning, full of hatred, full of… love.  
“I see you still have those smaller stars underneath your eyes.” Felix isn’t entirely sure whether Changbin means his freckles or the tear that just rolled down his cheek. He wants to wipe it away, but he can’t move. 

Changbin rises to his feet, turns his back to Felix. Felix picks up the last pieces of his courage and pride and takes the last steps to the rail. He places his hand on top of the golden stone, it feels cold underneath his fingers. He looks at what Changbin is looking – the sight in front of him. In any other instance the sight would have taken his breath away, as in front of him opened the heavens, beautiful clouds underneath a deep blue night sky and occasionally the clouds separated a little, showing the mighty valleys of Olympus below his feet. 

But now it is Changbin who takes his breath away.  
“I didn’t see your father.” Felix mumbles.  
“He wasn’t invited.” Changbin answers without hesitation; “I wasn’t either”. It isn’t like Felix wasn’t expecting it.  
“Yet you’re here.” He turns to Changbin, surprised to find the other boy already staring at him. Right now he hates that he can’t read the expression on the other’s face, always so stoic and stone cold.  
“Why?” Felix hears himself ask, and this time he doesn’t know if he wants an answer or not.

“You know why.” Changbin says, quietly. It’s quiet all around them, the harps of the great hall don’t reach to them. The answer makes Felix’s blood boil.  
“No, I don’t! Just tell me. Jisung is downstairs along with Minho, why aren’t you with them?”  
“Felix…”  
“No, just, don’t, I don’t want to hear whatever it is!” Felix has tears brimming in his eyes. He can’t believe his eyes nor his ears. Why, of all days, Changbin has to return today, when just last year he had bid his goodbyes. Felix sniffles, his hands are shaking. He hates that after all this, Changbin still manages to make him feel weak, make butterflies fly around his stomach with just that stare of his, his voice still lingers in Felix’s head and he just. Can’t. Let. Go. 

“I don’t want to hear it! You left me! You said we couldn’t be together back then, why come back now? Do you know what kind of hell the past year has been to me? Do you know how hard it is to see everyone around me being so happy and so in love? Do you know how many times my aunt has asked me about you?”  
“Your aunt doesn’t know the whole tru-“  
“Yes she does! She’s a goddess, for god’s sake Changbin! She knows whose son you are, she’s not stupid!” Felix wipes a tear away, he doesn’t want to cry in front of Changbin, he doesn’t want to talk to him, but he can’t help himself. He’s shaking, visibly, his legs are about to give out. 

“Why is it so hard for you to understand that I don’t care about your family? I don’t care whose son you are, I don’t care! Why is it so damn hard for you to just let go of that stupid thought of yours that you don’t deserve anyone because you’re the son of Hades? I don’t just understand!”  
“I know you don-“  
“Then help me understand, Changbin!” Felix yells, he hates this, he hated the look on Changbin’s face.  
“No Felix, you won’t understand! I’m an outcast. I don’t belong among your gods. Hades isn’t one of the Olympians for a reason and you know that!”  
“Do you actually think I care about him being an Olympian or not? My father isn’t an Olympian either!”  
“It’s different.”  
“No it isn’t!” 

A silence. Felix sniffles, wipes another tear away.  
“You’re just as much a human as I am-“ He’s so close to destroying the last shell Changbin has built around himself.  
“I just don’t want you hurting because of me.” Changbin’s voice breaks, Felix’s heart shatters to a million pieces. He lifts his gaze to the other boy, who is looking at the ground. The burn in his eyes has flamed out and there’s one, sparkling tear like a crystal running down Changbin’s cheek.  
“Changbin, you deserve love just as any other human being. I don’t care about your family. I don’t.” Felix wants to reach out, to wipe the tear away from Changbin’s face.  
“Your father does.”  
“I don’t care about him either.”

Another silence. Changbin’s shoulders shake a little, Felix is hurting, they’re both hurting. Felix wants to say a thousand things but he can’t get any out of his mouth, he doesn’t want to blame Changbin and his stubbornness for everything, he doesn’t want to argue anymore, he just wants to wrap his arms around Changbin and cry against his shoulder, let it all out and hear the sweet little whisper “Everything’s going to be alright” but he knows he’s not going to get that. 

“You know.” Changbin begins, quietly. He’s sobbing, head held down, Felix can’t see it, but he can hear it.  
“My father told me not to make the same mistake as Icarus did and fly too close to the sun.” Felix swallows, of course he knows the story, it was the first one his father ever told him.  
“Guess I’m just going to fly straight into it.” Changbin raises his head and faces Felix, and for a split second Felix gets scared as the embers in Changbin’s eyes are burning stronger than ever. 

And then Changbin wraps his arms around Felix and pulls him close, burying his face in Felix’s shoulder. Felix lets out a gasp, barely audible, it takes him a second or two to completely realize that the person he has been longing for a year is hugging him, and finally Felix wraps his hands around Changbin and presses his forehead against his shoulder, tears seeping through his closed eyelids. 

He breathes in the oh-so-familiar scent, he smells home, he smells something so utterly Changbin. The other boy shudders in his embrace and Felix tightens his hug.  
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry Felix.” Changbin sobs, Felix shakes his head.  
“No, no, don’t say that.” Felix had finally broken through the last wall Changbin had built around himself since he was young.  
“I’m so sorry I hurt you so bad.” The whispers are barely audible, Felix can’t take it. His tears wet the fabric of Changbin’s suit. Maybe just a minute ago he had still felt anger and hatred towards the boy but now all those emotions were gone, and left was nothing but longing and sadness, and on top of it all, a glimmer of hope.  
“It’s not your fault, Changbin, I know that.” 

Felix is the first one to pull back from the hug as he takes Changbin’s face in his hands, wipes his tears away, looks at him straight in the eyes. Those eyes he had fallen so hard for a little over a year ago. And now the feeling is there again, slightly burning behind his chest tugging the corners of his mouth. Felix pulls Changbin in for a kiss, a kiss so full of emotions he feels overwhelmed. Felix pours all in to the kiss, all the hatred, all the sorrow, all the things he has missed about Changbin during the past year. 

The slight burn behind his chest turns into a full bloom, the burning filling his insides, seeping out and dripping down gold. Felix’s heart is dripping gold and Changbin tastes golden, drink of the gods and maybe, just maybe Felix has found the reason to shine golden again, once upon a December.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading this, I hope you enjoyed! Feel free to hit me up at [twitter](https://twitter.com/charmolypis), I mostly ramble about Stray Kids and writing there uwu


End file.
